Full Disclosure 

The Invitation 

We have all just experienced extraordinary times. We have been impacted personally and professionally, separated from familiar gatherings and friends, working under strained and new conditions.  

This upcoming workshop is tailored for you, therapists at JF&CS. In a profession that focuses on others’ needs in lieu of your own, this workshop carves out some time for thinking about yourself.  

Visual expression and interpretation may be an unfamiliar mode of storytelling for you. Knowing that, we have selected a familiar yet highly expressive and personal metaphor for this workshop: The Dress Form. In the two-part workshop designed specifically for you at JF&CS, we will explore the “dress”—or another article of clothing—as a creative vehicle for self-reflection and self-awareness in our Covid-impacted world.  

What’s next? How to Prepare for the Workshops 

Before we gather as a group, we ask that you a) spend some time answering the guided questions below, and b) prepare for studio work by thinking about and gathering some materials that might make their way onto your visual story.   

Guided questions, meant as an entryway to the last two years of your life and practice: 

1. What did you learn these last two years that surprised you? 
2. Think of a specific experience or set of experiences you want to share. 
3. What coping mechanism(s) did you use that helped you get through these challenging times—e.g., hobbies, gardening, music, Zoom calls, books, cooking, sewing, exercise, etc.? 

To prepare for studio work, think about materials to bring to the workshop. Materials themselves have inherent meaning—what can a garment say? What can a part of a dress say? The zipper or buttons, the pockets (revealed or hidden), the bodice, the skirt, the front, the back, the fabric, color, seams, etc. Each choice can convey a message. Think about the style of dress (e.g., formal, casual, flouncy or tailored, cocktail, t-shirt dress, etc.) that will best suit your ideas.   

We’ve included the links below to show you examples of artists who have used a variety of materials and the dress form to tell a story. See what you think. 

Virginia Fitzgerald Dress Project 

Notice the variety of material the artist uses, including pick-up sticks, natural materials like rocks, twigs, and acorns, shards of glass, etc. 

Kathleen Holmes Sculptures: Holmes works with the dress sculpturally. Notice particularly the materials she chooses, using the bodice and skirt as separate elements, and the way she uses openings. Zeroing in on a part of a dress is an option.  

Some suggestions for materials to gather and bring to the workshop: 

Words, phrases, quotes, poems to amplify the theme of the work, three-dimensional objects, e.g., costume jewelry, watches, pins, buttons, a favorite book, photographs, recipes, maps, passports, vax cards, picture frames, or other artifacts that you may want to incorporate into the project. 

We will provide many additional art materials. 

We will spend two four-hour workshops creating these narrative dresses. 

The 30 finished works from these workshops will be exhibited here at JF&CS and later in a community-wide exhibition, along with pieces from workshops designed for The Breman and The Temple. 

You likely have questions.  Don’t hesitate to contact us! 

We look forward to meeting you all—